Filed In: kate zitzer art
chicago’s wells street art festival this weekend
This Saturday and Sunday I’ll be selling my artwork at the Wells Street Art Festival in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood. I’ll have all sorts of original art ranging in size from 8×10 to 36×48 inches, a limited number of high quality prints plus a few one of a kind paintings! This week we have a long list of to-do’s. I’m getting everything organized, prepped, printed and packaged and Marc is working on my booth setup. I’m also working hard to finish up a few more paintings. I’ll be bringing 50+ original pieces to the fest this weekend. Last week I picked up a big batch of prints from the printmaker and they look great!
The Wells Street Art Festival is on Wells Street between North Avenue and Division. The fest starts at 10:00 am and closes at dusk. I’m booth 301 (same spot as last year) so stop by and say hello! I’ll also be posting photos over here if you want to see more/follow along. So if you’re around, I’d love to see you there – and for anyone who can’t come I will have new items listed online soon. Check out all the fest details here! Later this summer I’ll be participating in the Lakeview East Festival of the Arts on September 13th and 14th so please mark your calendars and stay tuned.
photo credit kate zitzer
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Share on Twitterstudio update | preparing for art fair season
This time of year is so busy. I am in full production mode preparing for art fair season – Wells Street Art Fest is less than two months away. I want to have at least 50 original paintings. I am over half way there with almost 40 paintings. I am sketching, drawing and painting like crazy. I’ve been really happy with the decisions I’ve been making lately and just overall feel better and less stressed out than I usually do this time of year. The hardest part is storing all my work before the fairs (especially this year with our temporary living situation) and my stuff is scattered everywhere – different piles for different paintings and projects. Over the weekend I finished a new Home painting. I made a few changes and I really like how it turned out. It’s fun to reinvent your ideas. I’ve been planning how I want my booth set up this year and I think its going to look better than ever. I can’t wait to see what new thing Marc makes for me this year – I’m so lucky I have a talented wood worker at home.
photo credit kate zitzer
studio life | a journey
I’ve always been curious about how other artists got started in their careers – especially artists that began in a commercial field or working in an office, artists that slowly began creating on their own or artists that create in their spare time. Artists are always changing and growing and I don’t think we’re ever just one thing. Recently I was taking a trip down memory lane and it got me thinking about my own journey to becoming an artist. I remember always being creative as a kid and when I decided to make things to sell I was a teenager making scrapbooks for friends and family. In high school and in college, I took all sorts of art classes – drawing, painting, graphic design and photography – and my love for art began to grow wild. When I first started selling at art fairs I did little illustrations and soon after that I found my way back to painting. My journey shifted then and I started experimenting with other materials and painting styles. It was then I realized I had a passion for clean and simple designs and I made it my goal to create work that felt special and thoughtful. Now, almost ten years later, I feel like I am just starting to get into a groove and will only continue to grow as an artist.
photo credit kate zitzer
studio update
It’s still winter here – very cold and lots of snow which is good weather for working indoors but I sure do hope it starts to warm up soon. I’ve been painting like crazy. These days it’s about refining the designs I already have and coming up with new ones. I have the Wells Street Art Festival coming up in a few months so I’m trying to build up my inventory of paintings. I like to do things in stages and steps – I prime all of the canvases first then I flip through my sketchbook and find a few designs that I think will make nice paintings. Then I start drawing them out on a bigger scale and if necessary making a stencil. The last step is applying paint! I’m usually working on a few different paintings at once. I decided to change Adventure Begins to four colors instead of three and I can’t wait to see how it turns out. All kinds of new work is coming soon and I’m also working on a little side project. I will try to show you more here or here soon.
image credit kate zitzer
diy striped heart painting for valentine’s day
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner but it’s not too late to make something special! This DIY heart painting would be a great Valentine’s Day decoration or just fun hanging somewhere in your home year round. Here’s how I created mine –
what you’ll need:
• 12x 12 square canvas
• heart stencil
• white acrylic paint
• acrylic paints in your preferred colors
• paintbrush
• water cup
• painter’s tape
• paper
• scissors
• ruler
• disposable plate or scrap cardboard to use as a palette
• paper towels, newspaper or a drop cloth to cover your work area
how to make it:
Begin by covering the canvas with white acrylic paint. You can skip this step since the canvas is already white but I think it gives the finished product a nice, clean look. Using the stencil, trace the shape of the heart onto a piece of paper and then cut out. Do this four times for a total of four hearts. The shape of my heart is approximately 5 inches wide and 5 inches tall. Next, arrange the paper hearts onto the canvas so you can see how it will be displayed. If your hearts are the same size as mine then there should be a half an inch on each side of the canvas, a quarter of an inch in between the hearts and 3/4 of an inch on the top and bottom of the canvas. The bottom points of the hearts should be touching in the middle. Now trace the hearts onto the canvas so you will know where to place the stencil later. Using the ruler and a pencil, divide the hearts you just traced onto the canvas into five one inch sections – this is for your stripes. Cut very thin strips of tape and using your pencil marks as guides secure the tape onto the canvas across the hearts. Apply a thin layer of white paint over the tape – this helps seal the sides of the tape and prevents the other paint colors from bleeding through. Secure the stencil to the canvas on top of one of the hearts with the painter’s tape. Choose five different colors and paint each one inch section a different color. It’s best to apply thin layers of paint especially around the edges of the stencil to prevent the paint from bleeding behind it. Do not remove the stencil until paint is dry. Move the stencil to the next heart and repeat. Once you’ve done all four hearts and the paint is dry, remove the thin strips of painter’s tape to reveal white lines. For a crisp, clean look, use the white paint to touch up any areas where paint bled through the tape or behind the stencil.
If you don’t have a heart stencil, you can make your own. All you need is stencil paper, a pencil to draw your shape and an exacto knife to cut it out. If you have a stencil, you may want to cover it with painter’s tape first so the paint doesn’t ruin your stencil.
If you’re looking for something a little quicker and easier, try making these super simple DIY treat bags from last year!
photo credit kate zitzer | more DIY projects here
